TTAC Review: 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid

Informative review. These guys actually provided the MG2 and PHV battery power.

 

Yes, they actually tried to write a good article. However, they made confused claims about the usable capacity of the PiP and Volt batteries which they said were 4.2 kWh and 12.9 kWhs. The latter is the EPA charging estimate from the wall for the Volt, not the usable charge which is around 10.4 kWh in 2011-2012 and 10.8 kWh in the 2013 model years. I don't know where they got 4.2 kWh for the PiP.

They also made an implausible claim that the PiP returned 72 mpg on a 106 mile round trip while the Volt was charged at both (emphasis in original article) beginning and midpoint but got only 40 mpg overall while getting 33 mpg CS-only. That seems likely to be a typo or a calculation error of some kind.

They imply full charging but it would be difficult to concoct a scenario that would return mpg numbers like that for the PiP and Volt over 106 miles when driven equivalently. Maybe they drove the Volt in cold winter temperatures with the heater on maximum but I don't think that would even do it.